Beverly's Briscoe Middle School holds annual science fair

Do you know which is cleaner, a dog’s mouth or a human’s mouth? Do you know what happens when oil hits the ocean’s surface? Does air pressure inside a soccer ball affect the distance it can be kicked?

These were just a few of the topics Beverly middle school students tackled at the third annual Briscoe Science Fair, held Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the school's cafeteria.

Catherine Barrett, coordinator of the Briscoe Science Fair, commended the students for their hard work.

“A lot of work went into the projects; a lot of meeting with partners on the projects, which we all know can be a challenge,” she said.

Gene Wong, Dean of Arts & Sciences at Endicott College, served as the judges coordinator for the event.

“We had a lot of judges here today who looked at your projects,” he said, encouraging students who participated to continue to pursue their interests in science. “It was great to see all of the projects. We were all really impressed with all of them.”

Briscoe principal Matthew Poska thanked the judges, coordinators, staff and, most importantly, the parents, for helping students make the science fair a success.

“This is certainly an undertaking that starts about, well, we start promoting it around November, December,” he said. “I’m sure it gets a lot dicier the end of January into February … Your support of your child to participate in this voluntary event, it is tremendous.”

Poska also applauded the students for going “above and beyond what is expected of them” in creating their projects.

“As you walked around the cafeteria today, listening to the students, what struck me is how they owned their project, and they can speak to a lot of aspects of the project,” he said. “I want to thank our students for going that extra mile.”

The first, second and third place winners are eligible to go on to regionals in April at UMass-Lowell. Those who place there have the opportunity to advance to the state science fair in June; those who place at the state level are eligible to go on to the national level.